This police officer was one of many in riot gear at the fire scene Tuesday afternoon. (Freeman photo by Patricia Doxsey)

SHOKAN, N.Y. -- A 48-year-man died and a barn was destroyed in what state police Capt. Robert Nuzzo described as "an apparent fatal fire" at a barn adjacent to a home on state Route 28 in the town of Olive on Tuesday afternoon.

State police Lt. Paul Hogan said authorities went to the home of Brett Sirois after the Olive resident's father told them his son was possibly suicidal. When emergency responders arrived, they found a barn near the home was on fire, Hogan said.

Firefighters initially stayed back when they heard gunfire.

"We were staging back because there (were) shots fired from personnel somewhere on the scene," Olive Fire Department First Assistant Chief Stephen Fuller said. "That's why all the officers were brought in -- to protect us."

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Hogan said police at this point could not definitively determine if someone was shooting at firefighters or if ammunition was ignited in the blaze.

Hogan said police found Sirois dead in a burned car near the barn. He said authorities had not yet been able to determine whether Sirois had killed himself with a weapon or died in another way.

Nancy Fallon, who lives at the intersection where emergency responders blocked off state Route 28, said she heard at least four gunshots from her home and believed she heard at least one gunshot after police had said they found Sirois' body at 4:46 p.m.

Olive firefighters were allowed by police to go to the scene near Grant Avery Park about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, and soon after that, Fuller said the fire was under control, although some smoke was still visible from Route 28 until at least 6:45 p.m.

The initial 911 call reporting the fire came at 3:44 p.m., and shortly after the report, substantial amounts of thick black smoke obscured the sky and permeated the area around the scene.

Police from several agencies set up a command center outside Olive Town Court, and a several law enforcement officials responding to the incident were deployed around the area wearing riot gear and carrying assault rifles.

Some of the officers and deputies took cover around the scene.

Fallon, a former member of Olive's First Aid Squad, said she was in Kingston when she initially heard the report of the fire and a possible shooter at the scene, and she immediately started shaking, as she feared for the safety of her 25-year-old son.

She said she called her son and urged him to stay inside before heading home.

"I'm still shaking," Fallon said outside her Olive home. "I don't like it. It's (usually) nice and quiet around here."

The state Department of Transportation estimated state Route 28 would be closed between Longyear and Bostock roads until 9:30 p.m. in an online alert.

Several residents of the neighborhood were turned away as they tried to go home, including Michaeline Yerry.

"I was just trying to get home because I just live right next door to the (Pine View) Bakery, which is a couple houses up, but they said there are too many vehicles around and the fire hoses are in the middle of the road," Yerry said. "I have a little (dog) there and I don't want him to be freaking out."

Yerry also wanted to inspect her home to see if it was damaged by the blaze.

Several people who lived in the area said their electricity had gone out.

Hogan said another two-story house on the property was not damaged in the fire.